Returned To Sender

What an awful trip back. 4 days in Kuwait with nothing to do (although that was ok by me), but then they lost my bags on the way to Georgia, ran me through a painfully inefficient outprocessing, and shipped me on home with 15 minutes notice that my ride to the airport was leaving. Plus, I got in right around midnight after my flight was delayed, so poor Josh and Laura were forced to stay up late to retrieve/entertain me. [Thanks guys!] If I did not have such a nice goal waiting for me, [getting to come home and being done with Army], it would have been intolerable.

It really is surprising how hard it is to let go of the whole thing. From the people who I will miss, to turning over my section that I was in charge of to someone else, I think I developed stronger ties than I realized. Well, I think I can find some distraction in trying to find a job, find a place to live (and choose a city, for that matter.) Any suggestions?

For those who are interested- I got my Army awards too. The seal is for marksmanship and the gorilla is for sand racing. Anyone who does not know what I am talking about should clearly start watching Arrested Development.


Ciao! -(Non-Combat) Pat

It's The Final Countdown!

I have left Afghanistan for the last time (we hope!) Now it is a little while in Kuwait, a little while in Georgia, and then it is all done. Yay!

See you soooooon!

Wonderful news! Barring anything truly ridiculous, I will be home by Christmas! Yay! The replacement me is on the way here (but let's be honest, who could ever replace me?) and we are making the arrangements to come back to the states. I will still have to go through Kuwait and Fort Benning, GA again, so I don't have an exact date, but I do know it will be after the middle of the month, but before Christmas.

One note, I will not be here all that much longer, so if anyone has any more mail to send, if it is not on the way already, I would just hold onto it so I do not pass by it in transit. Now if I can just find some way to send this land mine home as a souvenir...

Ah Qatar!

Now some might think that, like there is no crying in baseball, there is no vacation in war, but let me assure you, there is, and mine was spent in a place where the beer flows like wine- Qatar.

Even if this had only been a chance to not work and wear civilian clothes for four days, it would have been awesome, but they do not stop there. With a three beer a day ration and fun little trips you can sign up for, clearly they can only get people to leave by force. I chose the "go to the beach trip."
It started off with a trek across the sand dunes at a pace which can only be described as "ludicrous." I believe at one point, we went plaid. This experience was made all the more interesting by being in the not- really- secured-to-the-floor backseat.





Then, we crested the last dune to see the Persian Gulf below. I went swimming, got stung by a jellyfish (a little one, so it barely even registered), played a little volleyball (with the tour guides who took it a little too seriously) and ate kabobs for lunch. It was a just plain nice day.

















The next day I ran into a friend of mine that I was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas with last time I was doing this Army gig. She is stationed in Qatar, which means she was allowed to take me off post. We went to the mall (exciting, I know!) and while it was really just like one in the states in so many ways, it was so very different. The men in their white robes, the women in their black burquas, all the signs being in English and Arabic, but with the same logos and models. Very surreal. To clear my head, I decided to go to the indoor ice skating rink.
Which is next to the camel ferris wheel.

Another odd thing about Qatar? The population is only about 30% Qatari, the rest being third country nationals, mostly from India and the Philippines, who do all the work. And instead of income tax? The government pays the Qataris a certain percentage of the oil revenue each year.Oh, and along the way? I saw this giant oyster.
Awesome.

I think that sums it all up- feel free to create your own moral to the story.Bye!

I'm a hero...

...but not like from the show.

So you know how I was working my butt off? Well, someone noticed. I think the best line of this is "cheerfully accepted the challenge." Not only did I get this MVP of the week-type thing, I got a real award too- an Army Achievement Medal that I can wear on my dress uniform and everything.

Another thing in the military is commander's coins. Well, my boss got new ones made and I got the first one. This is what they look like. Yes, yes, it is the previously unseen trifecta of Army goodness. As Gluck would say, "Without me, it is just aweso."



In other good news, while previously me making it home before Christmas was just not going to happen? Now, it has a chance. This is not to say that it WILL, it is just that it COULD. I'll know more in another month, and I'll keep you all updated.

Take care! -Pat

100 Hours Later

This is a formal apology to all those people that have written me emails or sent me mail in the last week or so. I just finished a week where I worked 100 hours. No, there was no balloon drop or flashing lights when I hit that milestone, just me falling asleep at my desk.

It is unlikely that this situation will get much better very soon- the reason I am doing so much is, in addition to my normal job, I am filling in for someone else who waited this long to go on vacation. (I think I would have gone quite mad if I had waited through 9 months of this place to take a break.) So, along with the group apology, I will also do a group thank you. Thank you! And I will be in touch soon. -Pat

US Army- So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

Hee hee. And below is me receiving what I like to call a Certificate of Respiration from a 4 star General. It is really a Certificate of Appreciation, but it was given to just about everyone that has managed to keep breathing, so meh.I know it has been a really long time since my last update, so I hope no one was worried. It is just that if I thought I was busy before, now it is about triple. Apparently I did something right once so they decided to see just how many things I can handle all at once. As of one day next week, I will be: Acting Commander, Acting Executive Officer, Communications Officer, and project lead on three major operations. I should have known this would happen if I kept telling them how awesome I am.






Also, I have been traveling a bunch too. Here is a picture out the tailgate of a Chinook helicopter that I took a flight on. (I am aware the date stamp is wrong.) That guy is the tail gunner, and he is strapped in with a belt. The other picture is what a Chinook looks like from the outside. To give you an idea of how big it is, that is a Humvee it is picking up.



Our flight was really early in the morning, and then takeoff got delayed, so I actually ended up sleeping on the runway itself while they were prepping the helicopter for the flight. But not to worry, I got to the choppah.

Hope to hear from you soon! -Pat